Electric regulator.



No. 728,300. -PATENTED MAY 10, 1900-,

E. RICE, JR. ELECTRIC REGULATOR.

APPLIUATION FILED NOV. 5, 1902.

H0 MODEL 2 SHEETS-SHEETL Witnesses Inventor.

& Edwin W.Ri ce Jr i704; WMQ

No. 728,300. PATENTED MAY 19, 19 3;

E. w. RICE, JR. ELECTRIC REGULATOR.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 6, I902.

HO MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Fig. 2.-

Witnesses. Inventor 4, 7 w Edwin w Rice Jr.

UNITED STATES Patented May-'19, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

EDWIN W. RICE, JR, OF SOHENEOTADY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO GEN- ERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF'NEW YORK.

ELECTRIC REGU LATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 728,300, dated May 19, 1903.

Application filed November 5, 19Q2. Serial No. 130,145. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWIN WV. RICE, Jr., a

citizen of the United States, residing at Schen-' ectady, county of Schenectady, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Regulators, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates more particularly to electric regulators and is embodied in a regulator in which the regulating action is checked as soon as the proper regulating effect has been secured without permitting the regulating action to pass through a series of oscillations or surges of decreasing amplitude about the desired point.

One of the principal objects of my invention is, in other words, to avoid What is known as hunting or pumping of the regulator.

In carrying my invention into practice I make use of a novel form of controlling mechanism, which I operate in connection with any desired regulating mechanism, the regulating mechanism being governed in its motions by the controlling mechanism.

The various features of novelty which constitute my invention I have pointed out with particularity in the appended claims, While in the following description, which is to be taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, I have set forth my invention as embodied in a regulating system for controlling the voltage of an electric distribution or transmission system.

Figure 1 is a representation, partly in diagram, of one embodiment of my invention, While Fig. 2 is a View of a modified form of controlling device or mechanism.

An alternating-current transmission system provided with regulating mechanism arranged in accordance with my invention is shown in Fig. 1 in which the lines 1 2 represent conductors forming part of an electric distribution or transmission system the voltage of which it is desired to control. It is obvious that the immediate means for controlling the voltage may differ widely. Thus, for example, the field strength of the generator (in this case not shown) may be varied or the speed of the generator may be changed. or various other means employed Without departing from my invention. In the present instance, however, I have assumed that the system is to be regulated by a potential-regn- 'lator of Well-known construction and such,

for example, as is set forth more in detail in the patent to Steinmetz, No. 548,400, dated October 22, 1895. A winding i on this regulator is in a series with one of the mainsas,

for example, the main 2while asecond windto exert a correspondingly-varied boosting effect upon the series coil, this boosting effect acting to regulate the voltage of the lines -1 and 2 as desired.

For the purpose of mechanically actuating the regulator 3 I may connect the rotating member thereof through gearing 7, of any suitable construction, to a piston-rod 8, extending from a piston 9, to which motion is 'com municated by fluid-pressure derived from any suitable source. The piston 9 of the actuating device is movable Within a cylinder 10, to which some suitable fluid, as oil, may be admitted through the operation of a controlling-valve-such,f0r example, as 11. The

oil may be contained in a tank 12, in'which it is maintained under pressure by means of some suitable pump. In the present instance I have by. way of illustration indicated a pump 13, driven by an electric motor 14, the circuit of which is controlled automatically by a switch 15, which through the ac tion of the fluid-pressure is caused to close when the pressure is too low and to open when the pressure is too high, the opening and closing of the switch being governed by a piston 16, operated upon by the fluid-pressure and acting in opposition to a properlyadjusted spring 17. The oil after it has been admitted to the cylinder 10 and has moved the piston thereof in either direction is then discharged through the exhaust-pipe 18 into a receiving-tank 19, from which it is drawn by the pump 13 and again forced into the tank 12.

The valve 11, which controls the fluid actuating device, is in turn actuated magnetically through the operation of a controlling device shown at the upper right-hand portion of Fig. 1. The magnetic actuating means consists of an armature 20, carried by a rod 21 and mounted in proximity to a pair of magnets 22 and 23, the circuits of which are opened and closed by the controlling device. Centering-springs 24 and 25, acting on the valve-stem 21, serve to maintain the valve 11 in its closed or intermediate position. Vhen one of the magnets is energized, the valve 11 will be moved in one direction, thereby causing a corresponding movement of the piston 9, while when the other magnet is energized an opposite resulting motion of the piston 9 will take place.

Passing now to the consideration of the electric controlling device shown in the upper right-hand portion of Fig. 1 and in which my invention chiefly resides, it will be seen to embody three electrically-controlled contacts one a main contact 26 and two cooperating contacts 27 28. Each of these contacts is movable in response to changes in voltage upon the alternatingcurrent system and is actuated or controlled in its movement by a solenoid, the solenoids corresponding to the three contacts being in the present instance connected in series with each other across the mains 1 2. The main contact 26 is carried by or forms a portion of a pivoted arm 29, provided with two oppositely-extending lever-arms 30 and 31, from one of which is suspended a solenoid-core 32, cooperating with the solenoid 33, and from the other a counterbalancing-weight 34. An arm 35, depending from the pivoted member just described,

carries a paddle 36, dipping in a body of some fluid 37-such, for example, as glycerin contained in a suitable receptacle 38, the purpose of this construction being to damp or steady the movements of the pivoted member. The parts are adjusted so that the solenoid 33 when traversed by current pulls upward upon the core 32, the counterbalancing being arranged so that when normal current is passing, corresponding to normal voltage upon the alternating-current system, the main contact is in a position of equilibrium midway between its cooperating contacts. Each cooperating contact is carried by a bellcrank lever, the contact 27 being mounted on the bell-crank lever 39 and the contact 28 upon the other bell-crank lever 40. A counterbalancing-weight 41 urges the horizontal member of the bell-crank lever 39 up against an adjustable stop 42, and this horizontal member is in turn acted upon by a solenoid 43, which tends to draw down upon a cooperating core 44, suspended from said member. A dash-pot 45 serves to render the motion produced by the solenoid 43 relatively slow compared with the motion of the main contact 26. The remaining cooperating contact 28 is, as has been mentioned, mounted upon the bell-crank lever 40; but this lever differs in arrangement from the bell-crank lever 39. It has suspended therefrom a solenoid-core 46; but this core instead of being pulled downward by its cooperating solenoid 47 is urged upward, thereby urging the horizontal member of the lever into contact with the adjustable stop 48. This lever also is provided with a dash-pot 49 or other device for rendering its motion slow as compared with the motion of the main contact. The levers carrying the main contact and the cooperating contacts are proportioned relatively to each other and are arranged with respect to their actuating-solenoids, so that a given variation of voltage on the mains 1 2 tends to cause a much larger movement or deflection of the main contact than of its cooperating contacts. Thus as an illustration the main contact might move, say, half a notch from its middle position under the influence of a one or two volt fluctuation of voltage of the mains 1 2 from the normal, while its cooperating contacts under the same conditions move, say, one tenth the distance. Under very small variations of current, therefore, the regulating mechanism controlled bythe contact-making device is actuated substantially the same as though the cooperating contacts27 and 28 were fixed. If, however, a large variation of voltage were to occur on the mainsas, for example, a drop in voltage of fifteen or twenty volts-then the main contact 26 would instantly move into engagement with its cooperating contact 28, and this contact under the weakening action of the solenoid 47 would slowly retreat, being restrained in its movement by the rather stiff acting dashpot 49. The regulator 3 would therefore be turned quickly and continuously in a direction to raise the voltage of the mains, and this action would continue uninterruptedly until the voltage had been brought back within, say, a volt or two of normal, whereupon the main contact would separate from the cooperating contact 28 and commence to return to its middle position. As soon, however, as the separation takes place the movement of the regulator 3 will cease. In the meantime the cooperating contact 28, under the restraining influence of the dash-pot 49, would be slowly returned until contact is again made with the main contact 26, whereupon the regulator 3 would be again moved, thus bringing the voltage of the mains 1 2 still closer to normal value. The main contact therefore would again move away from the cooperating contact toward its middle position, againcausing a separation and a repetition of the action thus described until the voltage of the mains is brought back to normal, this action taking place without the liability of the regulating action going beyond the amount required.

IIO

Instead of the controlling device shown in Fig. 1 I may make use of the modification shown in Fig. 2, in which the arrangement of levers and contacts carried thereby is substantially the same as in Fig.1,the only difference being in the mode of Winding and connecting up the three solenoids acting thereon. These solenoids are connected in multiple with each other and across the mains 1 2, as clearly indicated. The solenoid in addition to having a winding 51 in shunt to the mains 1 2 has a winding 52, which is energized whenever the main contact 53 engages the corresponding cooperating contact 54:. The solenoid 55, actuating the other cooperating contact 56, is similarly provided with two windings, one Winding, 57, being connected in shunt to the mains 1 2 and the other,58,energized whenever the main contact 53 engages the cooperating contact 56. The connections of the windings 52 and 58 are made so as to cause the corresponding cooperating contacts controlled thereby to suddenly retreat whenever engaged by the main contact 53. Thus it the main contact 53 Were to engage the cooperating contact 54 the winding 52 would be energized, therebyincreasing the magnetic pull upon the solenoid-core 59, thus causing an impulsive retreat of the con tact 54 and a return movement of the same as soon as the circuitot' the coil 52 is broken. Since the cooperating contact 56 moves away from the main contact 53 in response to a weakening of the magnetic force acting upon the magnetic core 60, attached to the bellcrank lever carrying the contact 56, the coil 58 is connected so that when energized it weakens the total pull upon the core 60, thereby producing a retreating of the contact 56.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. In an electric regulator, the combination of a main contact controlled by the quantity to be regulated, a cooperating contact also controlled by the quantity to be regulated, and a regulating mechanism responsive to engagement between said contacts.

2. In an electric regulator, the combination of a main contact movable in response to va-. riation of the quantity to be regulated, a cooperating contact also movable in response to the quantity to be regulated but subject to a smaller movement for a given variation of said quantity than that to which the main contact is subject for the same variation, and a regulating mechanism controlled in response to engagement of said contacts.

3. In an electric regulator, the combination of a main contact controlled by the quantity to be regulated, a slower-moving cooperating contact also responsive in its movements to variations of said quantity to be regulated, and a regulating mechanism operative in response to engagement of said contacts.

4:. In an electric regulator, the combination of a regulator-controlling mechanism,consisting of a main contact responsive to the quantity to be regulated, two cooperating contacts also responsive to the quantity to be regulated but subject to less movement than the main contact for any given variation of said quantity, and means for causing the cooperating contacts to return to normal position at a slower rate than the rate of return of the main contact.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 1st day of November, 1902.

EDWIN w. RICE, JR.

\Vitnesses:

BENJAMIN B. HULL, MARGARET E. WOOLLEY. 

